1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure generally relates to safety mechanisms for household appliances and other electrical devices. In particular, this disclosure relates to safety methods that detect the presence of lint in clothes dryers.
2. General Background
A clothes dryer inevitably produces particles of lint and fibers that accumulate in many areas of the clothes dryer. A lint filter positioned in the air vent within the clothes dryer captures a quantity of these lint particles. However, some lint unavoidably permeates the lint filter to unreachable areas of the clothes dryer and accumulates with the passage of time. Lint can also permeate crevasses between the chamber and the housing of the clothes dryer.
Unbeknownst to many users, the accumulation of lint in clothes dryers poses a serious fire hazard. Common fire hazards in clothes dryers are generally caused by the accumulation of lint in the exhaust duct or filter or accumulation of lint in the vicinity of the heating element. Because lint is highly flammable, proximity to the motor or the heating element of a clothes dryer can ignite the lint very rapidly and propagate the fire to the rest of the premises. Fires initiated by lint accumulation have caused hundreds of injuries and many human fatalities. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there are an estimated annual 15,500 fires, 310 injuries, and 10 deaths associated with clothes dryers.
Unfortunately, the lint fire hazard has been exacerbated by other factors. Users of clothes dryers tend to leave the appliance turned on when they leave the house. Further, poor filter maintenance may increase the presence of lint within the clothes dryer. Even when lint filters are cleaned, sometimes lint particles are airborne and later settle in other areas of the clothes dryer.